


In Mercy, Come Quickly

by stpitbull



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-29
Updated: 2012-03-29
Packaged: 2017-11-02 17:07:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/371365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stpitbull/pseuds/stpitbull





	In Mercy, Come Quickly

So this was how it was gonna end, Jasper thought. On a cross. Day-old wounds being pulled open where they had healed and leaking fresh warm blood. After all he had survived -- the battle at Nelson, the raid on Bitter Springs, eliminating Cottonwood Cove -- this was it.   
  
His throbbing head was pushed up by the blunt end of a spear extended by one of the Legionaires given the honor of crucifying him. "Chin up, soldier," the vexillarius taunted. "You've been such a shining example to the NCR profligates. You're just serving your purpose under a different definition."   
  
They had selected a spot within view of a known NCR patrol, a few hours before they were scheduled to pass. A pair of Legionaires were completing the task of setting up the massive minefield that would surround the cross, carefully hidden among the brush and rock. Jasper took a moment to pray that whoever saw him would take the mercy killing route. That they wouldn't give these putrescent festering assholes the satisfaction of a successful trap.   
  
His limbs felt like they were on fire, his joints aching from days on low blood, no food or water, regular beatings. All his teeth felt like they were going to fall out. He could feel his pulse in his eyes.   
  
"The rumor was that you were a mouthy one," the vexillarius drawled. "Frumentarii have sent back word about your eloquence, about your little morale-raising speeches. Care to send back any last words for Lord Caesar?"   
  
Jasper's head was swimming in pain. For the past few days, tied up in a filthy tent, he had forced himself to think about the bright spots in his life, the moments he was grateful for, the things he had loved. The memory of his mother teaching him the constellations and the stories their tribe had for them. The weeks he spent in Zion, swimming, exploring, listening to every teaching Joshua Graham would give him. That first tentative night with Boone, stolen away in some shack off the main road on their way home from his redemptive battle at Bitter Springs, all nervous hands and earnest lips and reverent exploration of each other's bodies. God, he hoped this wouldn't undo all he had done in trying to help that man. Selfish and short-sighted as it was, that was the biggest regret he'd be dragging to the afterlife -- the knowledge that this was going to break the man he loved all over again. Maybe irreparably.   
  
"Tell Caesar," he said, voice like the dry cracked bark on a scorched tree, "that I pray for him."   
  
The vexillarius smirked. "That's seems alm--"   
  
And his head burst apart like a melon.   
  
Jasper lifted his weary head and caught a glimpse of the setting sun's light reflecting sharp and bright in the lens of a scope in the distance. It may have been the massive bloodloss, but his heart soared. His knight in shining First Recon survival armor.

One of the remaining Legionaires armed himself with a rifle and began firing, the other pulling his thermic lance from his back and charging forward. He had reached the furthest edge of the minefield he had just completed laying when a shot collided with a mine at his feet, sending him flying. A slim piece of shrapnel flew back and managed to slice Jasper's cheek, and he treasured the sudden surge of new pain and trickle of hot, watery blood. It meant he wasn't dreaming this. It meant he was still alive.   
  
The flung Legionaire tried to rise, bless his heart, when another bullet lodged in his skull with a dull splat and he collapsed. The final survivor had found cover and was firing in fast, half-blind bursts. Shots collided with the boulder he hid behind, pebbles flying righteously but doing no damage other than giving the sniper's position away. This stand-off dragged on for minutes that registered as hours, until Jasper heard another burst of gunfire from the Legionaire punctuated by a sick gurgling. He summoned the effort to lift his head, to see the slit-throat Legionaire being cut near to pieces by Boone, in wild powerful arcs that consumed his whole body. Watched through a haze as the sniper carefully navigated and disarmed the mines near his cross, was blinded by a heady cocktail of immeasurable pain and wild searing hope as Boone got him down.   
  
His heart was pounding erratically and painfully but he was warm, cradled in Boone's lap, ears full of the roar of rushing blood and the soft urgent words from that dusky voice he loved. He felt something wet against his lips, registered the bottle of water and drank deeply, his head supported by a large hand he knew every scar of, calloused fingertips threading softly through his matting hair.   
  
"That's it," Boone said around ragged breaths. "That's it. Stay with me, baby,  _please_ ."   
  
Jasper lifted an aching hand to rest on Boone's wrist, stilling the flow of water for a moment. "The gunfire..." he said, voice too broken to elaborate.   
  
"The first two were mine," Boone explained, understanding, bring the water back to Jasper's lips. "The last one got distraction fire. Manny. Knew I couldn't come alone this time. Arcade's with him, he'll fix you up, come on."   
  
Boone discarded the empty water bottle and made to move, stilled immediately by the fractured movement of a very hazy Jasper reaching out to touch fingertips to his face. They were flaking dried blood and dirty and they barely ghosted against Boone's cheek when the sniper clasped the hand in his own, eyes shutting tight and brow knitting together as he placed a firm, aching kiss into the palm, onto Jasper's forehead, against his cracked lips. Something ferocious and romantic surged inside the courier and fought like a cornered nightstalker to survive.   
  
Boone gathered Jasper up into his arms and began his trek to where the courier had first seen the glint of light, where Manny was reverently keeping watch and Arcade was feverishly preparing a makeshift medical station. "Thank you," Jasper croaked softly. "Thank you for coming for me."   
  
"I wasn't about to let you die," Boone echoed softly.


End file.
